Luxury condos at S.F. waterfront get key OKs

Planning, Rec and Park sign off on pair of buildings near waterfront

Stephanie M. Lee

Updated
3:21 pm PDT, Sunday, April 21, 2013

The proposed 8 Washington project would have replaced a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero.

The proposed 8 Washington project would have replaced a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero.

Photo: Skidmore Owings And Merrill

Photo: Skidmore Owings And Merrill

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The proposed 8 Washington project would have replaced a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero.

The proposed 8 Washington project would have replaced a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero.

Photo: Skidmore Owings And Merrill

Luxury condos at S.F. waterfront get key OKs

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After six years of debate, a series of luxury condominiums proposed for San Francisco's waterfront took a major step toward construction Thursday when city agencies handed the project key approvals.

The proposed project would build two residential buildings with a combined 134 dwelling units on a 3.2-acre, triangle-shaped site on the north side of Washington Street between the Embarcadero and Drumm Street. The existing Golden Gateway Tennis and Swim Club and surface parking lot would be demolished.

The city Planning Commission approved 4-2 the final environmental impact report for 8 Washington, a state-mandated review of the project's effects on its surroundings.

The governing body as a whole also sided with the developer on two of the project's most controversial characteristics, the first being the proposed heights of the buildings. The city limit in the area is 84 feet, but the developers want the structures to rise as high as 12 stories and eight stories, or 136 feet and 92 feet, respectively. The commission recommended those changes to the Board of Supervisors, which will ultimately make that call.

Cast some shadows

Another issue involved nearby Sue Bierman Park. City planners found the buildings would cast darkness on a portion of the park for 15 minutes during both the early morning and late evening from early June through mid-July. No rules regarding shadows currently exist for that space. The Recreation and Park Commission and the Planning Commission, in a joint meeting, agreed to permit those shadows.

"I honestly think this is a really good project for the city because there are a lot of great benefits, connecting and reopening this street," said Commissioner Gwyneth Borden. However, Commissioners Cindy Wu and Hisashi Sugaya took issue with the project, saying they did not support building housing priced beyond the reach of the middle class and did not find the environmental analysis to be thorough and accurate.

Developer Simon Snellgrove said, "We're really happy with the vote. It's a process and we're patient and we think the project's been made better for it."

But he acknowledged the project still awaits approvals from the Board of Supervisors and the Port Commission, which needs to agree to sell the parking lot to the developers. Then there's the perhaps inevitable appeal from opponents, primarily members of the Golden Gateway Tennis and Swim Club and residents of the nearby Golden Gateway Commons.

"There's going to be appeals," said Sue Hestor, a land-use attorney with Friends of Golden Gateway.

During the seven-hour meeting that packed the Board of Supervisors' chamber, opponents complained about the noise from construction trucks, a lack of transparency on the part of the developers and the buildings' heights, which would partially to fully block a view of Coit Tower from a stretch of the Embarcadero. Above all, they said, the tennis club demolition would mark a blow to middle-class residents.

Opponents' view

"How do you make a finding that it's necessary and desirable to build housing for one-half of the 1 percent while removing housing for the middle class?" asked Brad Paul of Friends of Golden Gateway.

Supporters countered that the project would create construction jobs, generate more than $80 million for the port and $9 million for affordable housing, enliven the area and connect downtown to the waterfront.

The project would build about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor restaurants and storefronts, as well as a three-level underground parking garage with spaces for 134 residents and 255 members of the public. A new fitness and pool center - sans tennis courts - would sit on the northern portion of the site.

The project would also include new and renovated open spaces, including a path to the Embarcadero and an 11,500-square-foot park. Sarah Karlinsky, deputy director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, a smart-growth think tank that supports the project, said: "It's a real shame to see the gap-toothed nature of the western side of the Embarcadero."